My name is Sophie and I'm 12 years old.

It was in June 2004 when I realised I had Scoliosis. I was sitting down eating and I had a tight top on. My Mum noticed that my right shoulder-blade was slightly sticking out. As I am very skinny she didn't think much of it. But everyone else in my family had a look and noticed it too.

A few weeks later I went to the doctor and he told me I had Scoliosis. He told me that I was probably born with it and that my Mum just hadn't noticed before. When we went home we looked on some websites and it said it was quite rare to be born with it. We figured it had come when I had had a growth spurt.

I then went for x-rays at Q.A and St. Mary's Hospital. All this time it had got much worse. At QA we saw a specialist and he said I would have to have an operation in order to fix it. My spine had curved too far to be fixed by a brace. Me and my Mum were shocked. I was referred to another specialist at Southampton Hospital. We were meant to see the specialist ( Mr. Davies) in May but luckily we got a cancellation at very short notice! So we went in October. He explained the process of the operation to me. It would take 8 hours and he would take out part of my rib and try to straighten my spine and put a rod along side it. He told me my spine should get straighter by up to 50% and stop a lot of my backache. I was really shocked at what had happened in the last few months.

The next few weeks I was getting such severe backaches I finally decided to go ahead with the operation. We had been told it would be no longer than 6 months until my operation.

At the beginning of March I got a letter saying that my operation would be on the 29th of March ( 2 days after Easter!). I was so happy- it was much sooner than I expected.

It was one week before I was due in hospital, and the day before I was going to look around the ward when we got a phone call. It was to say that my operation was postponed until 20th April. I was really disappointed, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it. Me and my Mum went to look round the ward one week before I was admitted.

Me and my Mum left at 8.00am in order for my appointment at 9.30am . When we got to Southampton Hospital it took us a while to find the Children's Ward but we got there in the end.

A doctor came in to speak to us about my operation. He told me that that day I would have some tests done. My Mum had to sign some forms and he answered some of our questions. We waited after he'd gone for ages until a Nurse came and told me it was time for my EEG. I was a bit nervous because I didn't know what that was. I had to lie on a bed and the Nurse stuck lots of wires over my body. It was to test my heart rate. It didn't hurt at all.

After more waiting, another Nurse came to show me around the ward. It was really nice; she showed me the kitchen, parent's room, bathroom and the different beds I would be staying in.

Me and my Mum had to wait at least another hour and a half until it was time for my next test. I was fed up and hungry! We went to find the room and a man tested my height and weight. Then I had to take a really big breath and blow through a plastic tube. I did this a few times to test my lungs.

Next were photos. A Nurse took me into a big room and told me to do different positions while she took photos. This was to compare to the ones I will have taken after my operation to see how much my front and back improve. Lastly were a few X-rays. This was quite quick and I was relived to go home!

Tuesday 19th April- Day before Surgery
I went along to the hospital in the afternoon. I spent most of the afternoon watching TV by my bed in the ward. But I also had an x-ray and spinal cord monitoring.

I was a bit anxious before this because I didn't know what to expect. The doctor put this gritty cream on my head and ankles and then attached these wires to them. I was there for at least half an hour before he did anything else because something wasn't working! Eventually he changed a wire and it worked. He turned on a machine and it sent volts into my feet and made my toes move. It didn't really hurt except when he turned it really high by accident! This was so during the surgery he could monitor my spinal cord and check that everything was normal.

In the evening Mr. Davies (the surgeon) came to see me. He explained the operation to me again. He said that afterwards I would need to go to the Intensive Care Unit which there wasn't a spare bed in! I was so frustrated because I was likely to be sent home again. They told me and my Mum to stay the night anyway to see if there would be a bed there in the morning.

That night I couldn't sleep at all- I was so nervous.

Wednesday 20th April- Day of Surgery
At about 7.00 in the morning one of the nurses came to give me a drink of water. She said that they still didn't know if there would be a bed, but I had to get into the hospital gown anyway. Later on a few nurses came in and started to wheel my bed out. I was so shocked because I was sure I was going to go home!

I was wheeled to the Anaesthetic room where there were lots of nurses and doctors. I was so nervous! Ollie the Anaesthetist told me to look away while he injected the Anaesthetic into my wrist. I remember him asking me where I would like to go on holiday most and I said Australia. A second after, I fell asleep!

I woke up at about 8.00pm in ICU. I remember seeing a doctor and some Nurses. I had tubes all over me. My Mum wasn't there because they hadn't thought that I would wake up so soon. I had a horrible tube in my throat which was breathing for me. I remember thinking, I'm not breathing through my mouth but I'm not breathing through my nose either! Soon, I started crying because the tube in my throat hurt so much and I couldn't talk or swallow. So they took it out for me and I put on an oxygen mask. Then my Mum and Dad came in. I was so pleased to see them but I was getting really frustrated because they couldn't hear what I was saying through the oxygen mask! All I wanted to know was how my operation had gone. But soon Mr. Davies came in and showed me my X-rays- before and after. They were amazing, I couldn't believe it was me!

I fell asleep soon after.

Thursday-
I slept most of the morning and in the afternoon they transferred me to the ward. I couldn't eat or drink, I had a drip, I had my oxygen mask and I had a morphine pump which I could press when I liked.

I had a pain scale 0 was none, 1 was a little bit, 2 was a lot and 3 was the worst pain imaginable. Most of the time I was 2 but never 3 luckily!

Friday-
Not much different from Thursday. I hardly slept in the nights. Unfortunately I had a really bad tummy and the bed pan was NOT nice! My pain was still about 2.

I was getting better a little each day. Tuesday was probably my worst day because I hurt quite a lot and I had a really bad tummy ache. Luckily they transferred me to my own room in case I did have a tummy bug. That was great because it was really peaceful. I had loads of sweets and chocolate but I hardly ate anything because I wasn't really hungry and all I wanted was yoghurts! By about Wednesday I was walking. I felt really stiff and it was quite hard to take really deep breaths. I had several exercises that I had to do while I was in bed to keep my blood circulation going.

On Friday the 29th of April the surgeon came to see me again. I was still really stiff but he said if I could manage to go up and down some stairs I could go home that evening. Luckily I could and I was so excited! I was well enough to go to the car without a wheelchair and. I had a half and hour drive home which wasn't too bad but it hurt went we went over bumps.

It has now been just over three months since my operation. I can't believe how fast it has gone! I went back to school after 6 weeks. Everyone was really nice to me! It was nice to have the holidays to look forward to. I now am really straight and my friends think my scar is really cool. I can run around and don't get much backache. I am numb in places and sometimes I get a burning feeling there but other than that I am doing really well.

I am so glad I had the operation. Don't be too scared because it goes by really quickly and remember you'll have good and bad days so you won't always be feeling miserable.

Thanks for reading my story and I hope it has helped.

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